Large-scale Westminster projects to research individuals’ employment and earnings across the UK

The University of Westminster has been awarded £116,000 to lead two research projects developing statistics on individuals’ employment and income dynamics.

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The research forms part of the Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE) research programme. ESCoE is funded by the Office for National Statistics and led by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, in partnership with King’s College London, the University of Cambridge, the innovation foundation Nesta, Strathclyde Business School and Warwick Business School.

The first project uses four years of HMRC data covering the full population of UK employees. It allows detailed and long-term observation of employment transitions, as well as earnings changes. Using administrative data avoids the problem of non-response that affects the survey data commonly used for such analyses. The large size of the data allows statistics to be produced for population sub-groups that are not represented in sufficient numbers in survey data.

The second project aims to broaden this analysis by considering not just employee earnings but also self-employment and dividend income. It will link the HMRC data to the Census, allowing results to be representative of the population.

Professor Richard Dorsett, Principle Investigator from Westminster Business School’s Centre for Employment Research (CER), said about the projects: “These projects aim to deliver insights into the labour market that previously have been out of reach. The research leverages the potential offered by government datasets to enhance our understanding of job-to-job transitions, employment stability and social mobility, while also providing new evidence to support the functions of HMRC.”